options on cycling

[cravinmohead22]

this is my second tank im starting. the first one was a few years back and was fish only. my new tank is 55gallon and was wondering if its a good idea to buy all the live rock and live sand at once and use it to cycle the tank. i dont want fish in the tank. once the cycle is done i will be buying reef safe fish. i planned on getting around 60lbs. of sand and 50lbs. of cured rock. will the initial amnonia spike hurt anything in the sand or rocks. thanks for your help..... the not so new newbie.

 

[reeffreak]

Having all cured rock and live sand will either speed up the cycle(you may even miss it) or instantly cycle a tank.I use all cured rock and 20% live sand and the cycle took a little over a week.Ammonia will kill some critters but many will survive.

 

[cravinmohead22]

how often do i run the skimmer. hours per day???

 

[reeffreak]

I run mine 24/7 as most on here do.

 

[cravinmohead22]

even during the cycle? sorry for the stupid questions. its been awhile and thanks for the help.

 

[DavidA717]

yeah I run my skimmer 24/7 as well. what kind of lighting do you have?

 

[reeffreak]

Most skimmers need a break in period so yeah,start it right away.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hi! I would run the skimmer 24/7. Adding all the rock at the same time is a good idea. It will cycle your tank for you.

 

[Doc]

I added live sand and cured rock and added my fish and corals the same day. NO cycle. Don't turn on your lights for a while, you don't need to unless you want a lot of algae to grow while you are waiting for your tank to cycle.

-Doc